Closer to the Edge
by RobotToxic
Summary: Zack Fair thought his personal final mission was to protect his best friend, Cloud...but he was wrong. He was assigned by an unknown man after his death to protect a young woman...but from who? Or what? Why is there no Shin-Ra or SOLDIER in this young woman's world? And how could a girl in a wheelchair be in any danger? Based on the song "Closer to the Edge" by: 30 Seconds to Mars.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own Zack Fair. I own the "unknown" dog and voice

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It was dark, nothing sounded. Zack Fair had just died protecting his friend, Cloud. He waited for the Great Beyond to take him away but the legends of heavenly light never came to him. But what did happen was the dead ex-SOLDIER heard a deep voice tell him: "Protect her when the time comes, Zack Fair..."

"Who are you?"

"That's not important. Protect the girl on wheels. She'll need your help."

"Well...I'm dead so..."

"I will be giving you a second chance, Zack Fair. Where you will end up will be different from what you have ever known. Be safe and protect her."

"Protect who-?" A loud bark in the distance stopped him.

"It is time for you to go, Zack, and start your new life. But it won't be what you would call a 'paradise' for long."

Ringing sounded in Zack's ears and the bark got louder. White replaced the black void in a heartbeat then back to black again.

He heard a small whine and felt something wet nudge his arm...wait, what? Zack moaned as he sluggishly opened his eyes. A yellow-ish white dog with electrifying blue eyes was in his face, looking to see if he was okay. "Hey there...little doggie..." Zack heaved his hand off of the ground to give the dog a pat but his limb felt like solid lead to him and thudded back onto the ground. The dog made a small whine when it noticed Zack couldn't move and paced around him, as if it was trying to figure out what to do with the ex-SOLDIER. He noticed that the dog had on a red harness vest that said: "Service Dog". It went up to Zack's face and gave it a lick. "Ew...don't do that..." He squinted at the dog's collar, but that name was too small to read. All he could make out was a "C".

A sharp whistle came up from a distance from Zack and the dog. The dog made a sharp bark in reply. It grabbed the back of Zack's shirt and tugged him. "Ow!"

"Hello? Is someone down there?" a voice called above them. "Are you alright?"

Zack was about to make a reply but the dog pulled hard on his shirt again. This time, he felt something sharp jab into one of his wounds. Zack made a large gasp of pain and a low hiss, his vision blurred. The dog stopped and let go of Zack's shirt. It paced around Zack again. It grabbed onto his boots between its jaws. Zack blacked out from the pain before he could see what this dog was up to.

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YAY! A fanfic with Zack Fair! WOOOOOOOOT! ^-^ But I'm not sure on continuing this or not...leave a comment/review to let me know! Peace off.


	2. Chapter 2

*I don't own Zack Fair. I only own Gena and Cloud the Dog

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The first thing Zack could hear was a very faint squeaking. He slowly opened his eyes and lifted his head with great difficultly. As he slowly sat up, he noticed that he was in a bedroom. Just had striped wallpaper on the walls and a wooden dresser sitting under a window with its white drapes shut. Zack's eyes followed the wallpaper to the right side of the bed he was on; he smiled to see that the dog he met earlier was asleep on the floor.

The door creaked open, a girl very easily close to Cloud's age head peaked into the room but compared to the door, she was at least four feet tall. Her bright green eyes stopped at Zack and blinked. "Oh, um, sorry…" Her head slowly started to hide back behind the door.

"No, it's okay! Come on in." Zack told her with a smile. "So, I'm assuming you're the one that—" He stopped when the girl opened the door completely, revealing herself. She was in a wheelchair. "…Saved…me..."

"Nah, that wasn't me, sugar cube. The one that saved ya was my dog." She had a drawl, the accent not familiar to Zack. The girl took herself to the edge of the bed and turned so that she faced Zack. "If he hadn't found ya, ya could've died down there. Ya don't look like ya could've pulled ya-self outta that timber by ya-self."

"Yeah…wait, where's Cloud?"

The girl she pointed at the dog by the door. "Right there."

Zack knitted his eyebrows. "That's not Cloud."

"Sure it is! That's what it says on his tag." She made a sharp whistle, making the dog jolt up from its slumber. He got up to his paws and trotted over to the girl, he set his muzzle on her knee. The girl scratched behind his ear and motioned her hand to Zack. The dog jumped onto the bed and sat in front of Zack, giving him the: 'Well, are you going to pet me or not?' look. "Look for ya-self."

Zack took a hold of the diamond-shaped silver tag and held it away from the dog's long fur. "Huh. That's weird…but I'm talking about a friend of mine. Was anyone else with me when you found me?"

"No, if there was, Cloud woulda brought them up too." She propped her elbow on her knee and plopped her chin in her palm. "What happened to ya, anyways? From what I could get from ya fancy outfit, it looked like someone shot the crap outta you. But there weren't any entry wounds on ya…which is weird 'cause it's crusted with blood."

Zack looked at the floor and shook his head.

"Oh. Don't wanna talk about it, huh? That's okay, ya don't have to tell me if ya don't to." She gave him a smile and motioned at Cloud. "Ya already met Cloud…I'm Angelica Reeves, but you can call me 'Gena'."

"Gena?" Zack repeated.

"It's short for my middle name: Geneviève." Gena shrugged. "I kinda don't like the name Angelica, if ya know what I mean. Now ya know mine, I'd like to know yers, partner."

"Name's Zack. Zack Fair."

Gena nodded. "Oh…a Fair, huh? You related to Seth Fair?"

"I don't know any Seth."

Gena shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, well. Worth a shot. If yer not related to Seth than ya must not be from around here…" she laughed. "It'd explain why ya hair's so spiky!"

Zack couldn't help but join in to Gena's laughter, laughter's contagious after all. When the laugher receded, he cleared his throat. "So…uh, this might be a weird question but what village is this?"

Gena's head scrunched back and her eyebrows went down at the question. "Village? This ain't a village. It's just a small town in Missouri: Campbell. What made you think it was a village, Zack?"

"Missouri…?"

"Yeah, ya know…the state Missouri? One of the fifty states of the United States…?" Gena scooted her chair closer to the bed while having one eyebrow raised in a questioning manner. "…You _really _aren't from here, are ya?"

Zack made a nervous laugh and scratched the back of his neck. "I guess not. I'm from Gongaga."

"Gongaga?" Gena made a stifled laugh. It wasn't long until it turned into a from-the-gut laugh.

"Why is that so funny?" Zack questioned, remembering Cloud laughed too at his hometown's name.

Gena answered through her laugh, "I don't know! Just sounds funny!" She shook herself to make her laugher stop. "Sorry 'bout that…but seriously. Where is that? Never heard of it before. Is it some sort of third-world country or something like that?"

"No…" Zack was now beyond confused. Sure, his hometown is small but it's not _that _small. But there is one more thing to try… "What about Midgar?"

"Okay, now yer just making stuff up. What is that? Did ya hit yer head hard on something?"

'_What?' _


End file.
